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— The Senate Commerce Committee is planning a vote on FAA nominee Steve Dickson the week after next, whether or not Democrats are on board.
— The timeline for the ungrounding of the Boeing 737 MAX is continuing to stretch, with the latest word out of the company suggesting fall is the new goal.
— Amtrak police, facing a 20 percent cut, say they’re being left out of the loop by the company’s management.
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DICKSON VOTE COMING SOON: Senate Commerce is expecting to have a vote on FAA nominee Steve Dickson in two weeks, our Brianna Gurciullo reported. Chairman Roger Wicker(R-Miss.) is prepared to hold the vote whether or not Dickson has support from Democrats, who have raised concerns with his failure to disclose his role in a whistleblower retaliation case against Delta Air Lines from his time as an executive there. “I think we’re determined to place the right man in the right office, and I think he’s the right man. We’ll do it either way,” Wicker said Thursday.
One of the Democrats on the committee who has raised concerns, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told MT he hasn’t yet read written responses from Dickson to committee questions about the whistleblower incident, which were made public earlier this week. Ranking member Maria Cantwell’s office did not reply to a request for comment.
MAX TIMELINE STRETCHES INTO FALL: The recent developments in the FAA’s review of the Boeing 737 MAX suggest a further extension of the timeline for ungrounding the jet. A Boeing official told Brianna that the company needs between several weeks and a couple of months to fix a new issue. That will be packaged with an update for the MCAS system involved in two recent crashes. The plan is for Boeing to submit that package to the FAA in September.
House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said he was briefed by top FAA official Dan Elwell on the problem, which he described as a malfunction with a new chip or its related software that causes a rudder to move when it’s not supposed to. The committee is planning to meet with the Technical Advisory Board, which is evaluating Boeing’s software update, in a closed-door meeting in two weeks.
Southwest Airlines said on Thursday that it was removing the MAX from its flying schedule through Oct. 1, after previously doing so through Sept. 2.
Some historical context: 106 days in, this is on track to be the longest grounding of an entire fleet in the FAA’s history. The grounding of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in 1979 lasted five weeks, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2013 went on for 123 days, a mark the MAX is almost guaranteed to pass given the steps that remain for it to be ungrounded and the uncertainty around the timeline.
Hearing pushed back: Wicker told Brianna that his committee is waiting until a final report on the Oct. 29, 2018 Lion Air crash is released. “The folks from Boeing say they will be freer to speak … if the Lion Air investigation has reached a report stage,” he told POLITICO. “And so we’re gonna wait the extra day or two so that we can get better answers from the folks at Boeing.” The new target date for a hearing is October.
Update on lawsuits: The families victims of the Lion Air crash are in settlement talks with Boeing, but some families from a second crash on Ethiopian Airlines are not ready to settle, according to Reuters. “More and more information is coming to light every day,” said attorney Robert Clifford, who represents families of several Ethiopian Airline victims, in court. According to Reuters, “his clients want to know what Boeing knew about potential risk in its 737 MAX aircraft and what the company intends to do about it, he said.”
FAA’S SUPERSONIC PUSH HITS THE FEDERAL REGISTER: The FAA published a proposed rule on supersonic flight testing Friday, which it had promised was coming a few weeks ago. According to the agency, the rule would “ modernize the procedure” for requesting special flight authorizations for the testing and development of supersonic aircraft.
MAILBAG: Several unions, including one representing FAA aviation inspectors, wrote to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao earlier this week asking her to take steps to ensure safety and oversight of foreign repair stations. The unions said that congressionally required actions related to drug and alcohol testing, security screening and risk-based oversight at foreign aircraft repair stations which work on U.S. planes are “year overdue.”
AMTRAK UNION BACK AND FORTH: After your host reported on a conversation with an Amtrak executive about the company’s plan to cut 20 percent of its police force in Thursday’s MT, the union denied that it’s been consulted with. Stephen Gardner told POLITICO that Amtrak is in conversation with its police chief and the union, but the union’s president flatly disputed that, as our Stephanie Beasley reports.
She writes: “He said the union hasn’t received any updates from Amtrak officials or the police chief since the chief met with regional police commanders on May 1, where he announced that at least 100 police positions would be slashed.”
An Amtrak spokesperson said the company has been “working closely” with the union, and added that the force reduction won’t include any layoffs or furloughs, but instead is offering incentive to relocate or leave the force.
APPROVED: The Senate on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which included language preventing transit agencies from using federal funds to buy buses or railcars from Chinese state-owned companies.
BORDER BILL ON ITS WAY: The House cleared the Senate’s version of a border aid bill on Thursday, moving closer to final passage of the $4.6 billion legislation. Why this matters for transportation: TSA has said without the extra money, it would need to send more than $200 million to DHS for border security efforts, which could have “harsh” impacts on the transportation security agency.
TSA, by the way, is experiencing record crowds using its (mandatory) services. The agency said that since May 23, it has seen six of the top 10 busiest security screening days in recorded history, with more big crowds expected at airports for the holiday next week. Typically, TSA screens 2.2 million passengers and crew members a day, but peak days over the last month topped out at 2.7 million.
Suzi Emmerling is now chief communications officer for The Broad Foundation. She previously was communications director for LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and is also an Obama-era DOT alum.
— “NIO recalls nearly 5,000 electric SUVs after battery fires in China.” The Verge.
— “L.A. is hemorrhaging bus riders — worsening traffic and hurting climate goals.” Los Angeles Times.
— “Long before the Max disasters, Boeing had a history of failing to fix safety problems.” Washington Post.
— “Ford to slash jobs as part of European shake-up.” Wall Street Journal.
— “Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway.” Los Angeles Times.
DOT appropriations run out in 94 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,555 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 463 days.
